The present invention relates generally to web browser enhancements. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for notifying of changes in web page hyperlinked documents.
Many people use the Internet, or a corporate Intranet, to find a variety of information. Often, when people use the Internet, they use a section of the Internet called the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web is a massive collection of web pages that contains a variety of information. Similarly, a corporate Intranet is a more limited collection of web pages that also contains a variety of information. The web pages on the Internet and on corporate Intranets are normally accessed by the user through a web browser. Typically, the web browser displays one web page at a time. Often times, a web page will contain a hypertext link to another web page called a hyperlinked document. By selecting the hypertext link, the user can be taken to the hyperlinked document that is associated with the hypertext link.
The drawback with Internet and corporate Intranet systems is that the information presented within the web pages is often updated and changed without notification to the users. Therefore, a user who accesses information on web pages does not have an effective method of being notified when a web page or a hyperlinked document is changed. While there are current systems which notify a user of changes to a web page, these notification system are rather limited.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,007 (the ""007 patent) teaches an apparatus, method, system and computer program product which provides automatic notification of sufficient changes in bookmarked information files. The ""007 patent provides a user of information access programs, such a web browsers, to automatically be informed of changes in information files, such as World Wide Web pages, when the maintainer of the information file determines that a sufficient change has been made to the file.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,836 (the ""836 patent) teaches a change-detection web server which automatically checks web-page documents for recent changes. The server retrieves and compares documents one or more times a week. The user is notified by electronic mail when a change is detected. The user registers a web page document by submitting his e-mail address and the uniform resource locator (URL) of the desired document.
Users would benefit from a notification system that provided the ability to easily select a hypertext link from a web page and then be electronically notified whenever the hyperlinked document that is associated with the hypertext link changes.
In view of the above limitations of existing web browsers, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a computer system comprising a computer, a server operatively coupled with the computer, a web browser that executes in the computer, the web browser accessing web pages stored on the server, and a general notification system integrally connected with the web browser, the general notification system configured to provide a notification icon on a web page, wherein notification of any changes to the hyperlinked document can be requested by selecting the notification icon. In one preferred embodiment, the general notification system further comprises a subscription program which is invoked upon selecting a notification icon, the web page further comprises a hypertext link associated with the hyperlinked document, the subscription program changes the web page to a notification page, and the notification page further comprises a checkbox next to the hypertext link. In one preferred embodiment, the general notification system further comprising a canvasser program configured to find the hyperlinked document and compare a found hyperlinked document to a current hyperlinked document for changes to the hyperlinked document. In one preferred embodiment, the general notification system further comprises a notify program for comparing data fields in the notify table with data fields in the change table and notifying the user of any changes to the hyperlinked document. In one preferred embodiment, the general notification system further comprises a notify reports program configured to generate a report for the user.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method of notifying a user of changes in a hyperlinked document, the method comprising providing a notification icon within a web page having a hypertext link associated with the hyperlinked document, selecting the notification icon, and notifying the user of any changes to the hyperlinked document. In one preferred embodiment, the method further comprises generating a notification page upon selecting the notification icon, the notification page having a checkbox next to the hypertext link, and marking the checkbox. In one preferred embodiment, the method further comprises periodically canvassing the Internet for the hyperlinked document, and comparing a found hyperlinked document a current hyperlinked document for changes.
As will be appreciated by those of skill in this art, the above described aspects of the present invention may also be provided as apparatus or computer program products and is particularly well suited to program tools, applications, web browsers, or operating systems which utilize hypertext links.